CHUBB CLASSIC PRESENTED BY SERVPRO

February 19, 2023

Bernhard Langer

Tiburón Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You've been asked questions about this moment for a long time. What's going through your mind right now that you at least tied Hale?

BERNHARD LANGER: Yeah, there's been a lot of talk about catching Hale for the last few years, and there's a lot of pressure, especially today when you get this close. Then you have thoughts running through your mind, and you're going, wow, you're this close, you don't want to lose it now. But that's the wrong stuff to think. You've got to just focus on one shot at a time.

I actually did a little quiet time this morning, and I wrote this Bible verse down, and I carried it all day just to encourage me, and it's out of proverbs. It says I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding. In all my ways I will acknowledge him, and he will make my path straight," and my path was pretty straight today and this whole week. I drove it very well, hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and fortunately did better than anybody else.

Q. You've been playing professional golf now for a long time. 65 years old, you can't do it without a strong family behind you. What's it mean to have your family so close as you do this?

BERNHARD LANGER: It means a great deal, always has. Family comes second after God for me, and it's been a very important key in my whole life and my career, and I've been blessed to have four healthy kids, now four healthy grandkids, and the last three victories have been here in South Florida close to home, where some of my family was with me, and that means even more.

Q. You've lost a few aspects of your game as you would expect at 65, yet you're a master at playing to your strengths and shooting a score. How gratifying is it at 65 to be beating these guys who are just coming out here?

BERNHARD LANGER: It's very gratifying, and I know there's only certain courses I think where I can win. There's some courses where I have a hard time because of lack of distance. Let's face it, I'm not hitting it as far as these 50 or 52 year olds, and there's some courses where I call them the bombers have such a big advantage where I have a hard time. But on a golf course like this that's very tight and not too long, I have a chance.

Q. You hit driver for your second shot on the last. Did you know where you stood before you chose driver?

BERNHARD LANGER: I did. My caddie said -- I thought I had a one-shot lead and I needed to make par to win, and he said, You actually have a two-shot lead, and I said, well, I don't trust leaderboards and all that. I figured I could have laid up with a 5-iron or something, but then you bring the bunker into play, and then you don't know. You end up in a divot and chunk it into the bunker, and all of a sudden you're under pressure. If I hit 3-wood I'm going to end up where I ended up yesterday, 10, 15 yards short in a tight lie, so I figured let's just hit driver, natural fade, it leaves me with a good angle into the green, and it turned out perfect.